


Yonati

by smkaplan



Category: Sefer Shmuel | Book of Samuel, Song of Songs | Song of Solomon, תנ"ך | Tanakh
Genre: -on purpose!!, But only a little bit and it gets resolved, Hebrew word-play, M/M, Misquoting Song of Songs, Period-appropriate internalized homophobia, Pet Names, Shlomo appears very briefly, This is mostly David and Yehonatan being soft and loving, slightly nsfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:49:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23174962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smkaplan/pseuds/smkaplan
Summary: “Oh, no, my love, you misunderstand me. I thought perhaps I could fetch my lyre, compose a song extolling the many virtues of our love. Would that please you?”His hand drifts lower, plucking out notes on Yehonatan’s taut, muscular stomach. “O my dove, in the cranny of the rocks, hidden by the cliff,” he sings quietly. “Let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is comely.”Yehonatan is worried. David sings to him.
Relationships: David | Dāūd/Yehonatan | Jonathan
Comments: 7
Kudos: 20





	Yonati

The pair lie tangled in Yehonatan’s bed, nakednesses barely covered. David runs a soothing hand through his friend’s hair. No matter how joyous the prince may feel during their lovemaking, he always turns to worry once the afterglow fades.

“This is unholy, David. ‘You shall not lie with man as you lie with woman.’ One of us is surely destined to rule over all of Israel, is it wise to lose favor in G-d’s eyes?”

“G-d commanded Moshe as such  _ centuries  _ ago. And think, residing in a palace surrounded by handsome princes- such as yourself, of course- surely our prophet did not remain  _ completely  _ chaste.” He wraps his finger around a curl and tugs; Yehonaton’s eyes drift close in pleasure, before David’s words register and he snaps his head around.

“David ben Jesse, surely you are not accusing the prophet Moshe, he who parted the Sea of Reeds and led the Israelites to Canaan, of- of sodomy??”

David shrugs slightly, soothing his thumbs over the prince’s furrowed brow. “Perhaps not sodomy, but I can’t imagine those coals ruined his mouth of  _ every  _ use.”

“I cannot believe you.” Yehonatan turns his back to David, who in turn pulls his lover to his chest. The prince resists, but barely, too exhausted from their previous activities and too unwilling to deny himself the comfort of David’s unconditional affection.

“I am sorry, my love, I was only teasing. I know how you admire him. But, Yehonatan, hear me. If Adonai was angry with us, would we not already be dead?” David sighs. His argument always seems to come back around to this point, and it’s a good point, but Yehonatan never listens. “Do you question our lord’s power? Could he not strike us down where we lie?”

Yehonatan stiffens in his lover’s arms, as if expecting a bolt of lightning to follow the words. David rests a calloused hand on his chest, teasing a nipple. He leans in close to Yehonatan’s ear, humming a few notes of the prince’s favorite composition of his until he relaxes back into David’s embrace.

“Do I need to... reoccupy you, to banish these thoughts?”

“David, I am tired.”

David moves to the other nipple, blowing a hot breath onto the back of Yehonatan’s neck, making him shiver. He can see a faint stirring under their light blanket and presses his hips in closer. “Oh, no, my love, you misunderstand me. I thought perhaps I could fetch my lyre, compose a song extolling the many virtues of our love. Would that please you?”

His hand drifts lower, plucking out notes on Yehonatan’s taut, muscular stomach. “O my dove, in the cranny of the rocks, hidden by the cliff,” he sings quietly. “Let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is comely.” He stills his descent, takes a deep breath, smells his scent in his lover’s sweat. Yehonatan’s breathes are slowing.

“Sweetness drops from your lips, O love; honey and milk are under your tongue; and the scent of your robes is like the scent of Lebanon.”

“David, I-”

“Your limbs are an orchard of pomegranates and of all luscious fruits, of henna and of nard: nard and saffron, fragrant reed and cinnamon, with all aromatic woods, myrrh and aloes— all the choice perfumes.”

“David…”

“Awake, O north wind, come, O south wind. Blow upon my garden, that its perfume may spread. Let my beloved come to his garden and enjoy its luscious fruits.”

The musician finishes his song and the two lie silently.

David raises himself up onto his elbow and starts, seeing the tears dripping down his lover’s face. He grasps frantically at him, turning the prince back towards himself and wiping at his face. “Yehonatan, my love, my love, what is it?”

Yehonatan simply smiles up at him, lips wobbling. He reaches a hand between him, cupping his lover’s cheek and pulling him in for a deep, passionate kiss. They part for breath, barely an inch between them, Yehonatan’s tears staining both of their faces.

“David?”

“Yes, my love?”

“I believe you.”

David blinks, opens his mouth to ask and Yehonatan captures it in another, deeper kiss. When they part again, he continues:

“I believe that G-d loves you. That He loves us, for He has surely sent you to me.”

And there must be magic in threes, for this third kiss seems sent from Adonai as well, and the two fall together as one.

Later, when they are once again separate beings, Yehonatan curls into David’s smaller frame and presses a kiss to his shoulder, sighing in contentment. David returns his hand to its favorite spot, tangled in his lover’s thick curls. His foot traces a gentle path on Yehonatan’s calf.

“So, my love, did you like my song?” he teases.

Yehonatan only sniffs. “You are only going to make me cry again, you Philistine.”

“Hardly,” David laughs, glancing down at the softening evidence of his circumcision. “But nonetheless, I am glad it pleased you. I have been considering composing a longer ode, a complete encapsulation of my love for you. The greatest song ever composed, a song to surpass every song.”

Yehonatan turns his face into the bed, hiding his pleasure at this expression of the musician’s passion. “David, you are too kind,” he mumbles.

“Nothing is too much for you, my love.”

“Well, if that is so. I have a... request.”

David clasps their free hands together, brings them to his lips. “Anything,” he whispers. “Anything.”

“If you can, I’d like to hear again of myself as- as your dove, as Yonati.”

The musician hums softly. “Yehonatan, Yonati. We may create a poet from you yet, dearest Yonati.”

Yehonatan sinks into the warmth of his lover, who begins to trace yod-vav-nun-tav-yod into his sun-kissed skin, and drifts off, David singing him to sleep:

“For now the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The blossoms have appeared in the land, the time of pruning has come; the song of my dove is heard in our land…”

***

Shlomo ben David rifles through a stack of parchments pulled from some dusty recess to be sorted. He stops on one, mostly blank but for a few soul-stirring lines of poetry.

_ O my dove _ , he reads, scans the page.  _ Sweetness drops from your lips… honey and milk are under your tongue… this is quite good, really. _ He folds the parchment, tucks it into his robe, and continues his work.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't necessarily love the way the characterization turned out- Yehonatan was definitely into their relationship- but maybe you can consider this as taking place early on in their relationship, when they're still trying to figure things out. Anyways, I liked this too much not to post it.
> 
> The song lyrics David sings comes from Song of Songs, the authorship of which is attributed to Shlomo, David's son/king of Israel.
> 
> Yonati means "my dove" and does appear in the Song of Songs, but not in every place I include it...!
> 
> Yod-vav-nun-tav-yod or יונתי spells Yonati in the Hebrew alphabet.


End file.
